JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A 25-year veteran of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, Stan Turner says winning the right to collectively bargain would be a boon for local firefighters.

"We got a 1-percent raise this year, but that was the first time in three years," Turner said. "Even though we negotiate with the city, without collective bargaining we don't have a leg to stand on with city leaders. Without it, it is tough on us to get salary increases."

On Nov. 5, Missouri voters will decide Amendment 2, which would allow collective bargaining for firefighters, ambulance personnel and dispatchers under the state constitution.

Although the Cape Girardeau department has long been represented by the International Association of Firefighters Local 1084, its role has been limited -- like most other public employee unions in Missouri -- to the right to "meet and confer" with management, a process public union representatives around the state have long derided as "meet and beg."

Good faith negotiations

Amendment 2 would require cities to negotiate in good faith with firefighters unions on wages, hours and working conditions and provide for binding arbitration if the two sides cannot agree on a contract. It specifically bars firefighters from striking.

The measure is opposed by the Missouri Municipal League, a group that lobbies on behalf of 622 member cities around the state. Deputy director Bill Johnson said Amendment 2 would reduce local control on labor matters.

"It provides for an outside arbiter to come in and make decisions that should be left to local officials elected by taxpayers," Johnson said. "That is the whole guts of it."

Cape Girardeau city officials have said they will be following the Municipal League's lead on the issue.

According to the fiscal note that will appear on the ballot, Amendment 2 would cost Missouri cities between $251,600 to $3.15 million, depending on the number of municipalities that enter into binding contracts.

Municipal League executive director Gary Markenson said binding arbitration could force "an unforeseen wage increase that could destroy a city's budget."

Initiative petition

The proposal was placed on the ballot via an initiative petition sponsored by the Missouri Council of Firefighters, an umbrella group for the approximately 5,000 members of local firefighters unions. Council president John Corbett, who spent more than 18 years with the University City Fire Department, said emergency personnel deserve the same collective bargaining rights enjoyed by private sector workers.

"It is a basic right, a matter of fairness and we feel that for too long we've been treated as second-class citizens," Corbett said.

City officials would still have final say over their budgets and wage matters, Corbett said. Firefighters would mainly negotiate on safety issues, such as requiring cities to adhere to national standards and ensuring that vehicles and equipment are routinely inspected.

"That saves the lives of firefighters, which in turn saves the lives of other people," Corbett said.

Tom Hinkebein, a battalion chief with the Cape Girardeau department, said passage of Amendment 2 would have positive effects throughout city government.

"It would help our other city employees more than it would firefighters because with collective bargaining, not only would the city leaders have to meet and confer with us, but they'd have to work with the employees to find a common goal," Hinkebein said.

Interim fire chief Mark Hasheider said there hasn't been a great deal of buzz about Amendment 2 within the department.

"Everybody is kind of watching it to see how it comes out, but I don't see a significant impact on relations between the union and City Hall," Hasheider said.

Mike Wells of the Southeast Missourian contributed to this report.

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BALLOT DECISION

Shall Article XIII of the Missouri Constitution be amended to permit specified firefighters and ambulance personnel, and dispatchers of fire departments, fire districts, ambulance districts and ambulance departments and fire and emergency medical services dispatchers of dispatch agencies, to organize and bargain collectively in good faith with their employers through representatives of their own choosing and to enter into enforceable collective bargaining contracts with their employers concerning wages, hours, binding arbitration and all other terms and conditions of employment, except that nothing in this amendment shall grant to the aforementioned employees the right to strike? The annual costs to paid fire departments and districts, ambulance departments and districts, and dispatch agencies to enter into collective bargaining contracts are approximately $251,600 to $3,145,000, depending upon the number of entities entering into such contracts.